


I'll Always Choose You

by ReddieOrNot (cajungirlkye)



Series: ReddieOrNot's Fix-It-Palooza [4]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: But he makes an appearance, But if you've read anything I've written about these two you can probably guess what it is, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Richie-centric, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Stan's still dead, There's another tag but that's a spoiler ;), just some super soft fluff, sorry - Freeform, these idiots are so in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 17:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21057965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cajungirlkye/pseuds/ReddieOrNot
Summary: Richie wakes up from a nightmare in which Eddie doesn't survive Neibolt and gets reassured by Eddie that he is in fact, alive.





	I'll Always Choose You

_ Richie runs over to Eddie. "Eds, we got him! We--" _

_ His heart freezes as he sees Eddie's eyes fixed in a blank stare, arms hanging limply at his sides. _

_ Suddenly the entire cavern begins to shake. _

_ "Richie, we have to go!" Mike yells at him. _

_ "Not without Eddie!" Richie yells back. "He's hurt, we have to help him! We have to get him out of here!" _

_ Beverly pulls at his hand, dragging him away from Eddie's body. "He's dead, Richie, come on. Richie! Rich--" _

"--Chie, Richie, honey, wake up."

Richie opened his eyes with a gasp and sat bolt upright. He looked around his bedroom, which was illuminated by Richie's bedside lamp, then over at the blurry shape of his boyfriend leaning over him in the bed. "Eds?"

Eddie smiled softly. "Yeah, Rich, it's me."

_ Eddie.  _ Richie was overwhelmed with emotion and covered his face with his hands. "Oh my God, Eddie. You were dead, you were fucking  _ dead _ , Pennywise  _ stabbed  _ you and you _ died _ and I just fucking  _ left you there _ \--"

He broke off on a sob.

"Hey, no, babe, it was just a dream." Eddie pulled Richie's hand to his scarred bare chest, right over his steadily beating heart. "I'm ok, I'm alive, see? I'm here. You didn't leave me, Rich. You saved me, remember?" He gave Richie a gentle kiss. "You saved me. You carried me out of there and got me to a hospital just in time. I'm  _ alive _ because of you."

Richie clung to Eddie and buried his face in Eddie's neck as he thought back to what had  _ really _ happened after the Losers had defeated Pennywise. 

The following 2 weeks after the final battle with It had been one of the most nerve-wracking of Richie's life. Eddie had been rushed to emergency surgery and, according to the hospital surgeon, managed to survive by 'nothing short of a miracle', and had been placed into a medically-induced coma while he began to heal.

Since Eddie obviously hadn't been in a position to fill out hospital paperwork, Beverly had taken it upon herself to do so and listed Richie as Eddie's emergency contact so Richie would be allowed to stay with Eddie and get updates.

To Richie's surprise no one ever came to kick him out, nor did Eddie's wife come storming into the room demanding to know what had happened to her husband, so Richie had assumed that no one in hospital administration had bothered to verify the emergency contact information on the paperwork.

Richie had stayed in the ICU waiting room until Eddie was declared stable enough to be moved into a regular room, then spent the next week and a half constantly by his bedside, with the other Losers rotating out in order to make sure Richie ate, slept, and somewhat showered. 

10 days after Eddie's "accident" the doctors had decided he was stable enough to bring him out of the coma and allow him to wake up on his own, but it had taken another 2 days for half of Richie's soul to come back to him.

Ben, who had currently been on Richie-sitting duty, was in the hospital coffee shop getting some coffee & pastries for Richie & himself, so Richie had taken the opportunity to have a private conversation with Eddie.

"Hey, Eds, the docs said that your loved ones talking to you might help you regain consciousness faster because of familiarity or some such garbage so I doubt this will help since we've literally spent 3 days together in the past 27 years, but, uh, could you do me a solid and wake the fuck up? Please? I've got some really important shit to tell you and I need you to be awake to hear it."

He took Eddie's hand in his own, subconsciously rubbing his thumb over the soft skin of Eddie's now oath-scar-free palm."I really need you to come back to me because... see the thing is I… I need to tell you to your stupidly adorable face that I've been in love with you since we were 12 years old.

I love you, Eds… Ever since we were kids I've loved you. I totally get it if you don't or never did feel the same way, I just… I just need you to know that."

He sighed and leaned his head down on Eddie's hand, placing a soft kiss to it.

Suddenly he heard a croaky voice. "Richie?"

His head popped up. "Eds?"

He watched in shock as Eddie's eyelids fluttered open. 

"Richie?" Eddie said again.

Richie's throat constricted. "Yeah--" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, Eds, I'm here."

Eddie slowly turned his head towards Richie. "Did we get It?"

Richie sniffled. He hadn't realized that he had started crying. "Yeah, buddy. We did. We got It."

Eddie tried to sit up and grimaced. "How long have I been out?"

Richie jumped up to help Eddie. "12 days. The docs kept you in a medically-induced coma while you started healing."

Eddie blew out a breath. "12 days. Fuck. Feels like it just happened yesterday." He eyed Richie. "You look like shit."

Richie huffed out a laugh. "Haven't been getting much sleep in the past 12 days," he admitted. "Kinda had more important things to worry about."

Eddie took Richie's hand and his face went soft. "Richie, I--"

Ben chose that exact moment to come in with their breakfast. "Rich, they were out of everything bagels so I--" His eyes widened. "Holy shit," he said, setting the coffee and pastries down and rushing to Eddie's bedside. "Hey, Eddie. How you feeling?"

"Like I've been fucking skewered," Eddie said sardonically.

Ben grinned, then flicked his eyes over to Richie and Eddie's joined hands. "I'll, uh, I'll go get the nurse and call everyone to let them know that you're awake." He started slowly backing out of the room.

Eddie nodded.

As soon as Ben was gone, he turned back to Richie. "You guys have all been taking turns to stay with me?"

Richie rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "More or less." He suddenly felt embarrassed at his refusal to leave Eddie's bedside.

"More or less?" Eddie repeated. "Wha--  _ oh _ ." A look of realization came over his face. 

Richie was miraculously spared further conversation by the doctor coming in. "Mr. Kaspbrak, so glad you could join us. You're a very lucky man. How's the pain?"

The next few hours were a whirlwind of doctors and nurses filtering in and out of the room, a battery of tests being run, and bandages and tubes being changed. About 20 minutes after the doctor had come in the rest of the Losers had arrived, each greeting Eddie with a gentle hug.

When everything was done and they were finally left alone, the rest of the group filled Eddie in on what had happened during the rest of the battle with Pennywise. 

"So Neibolt is gone," Eddie said. "Good. I always hated that fucking house."

Soon after, the rest of the Losers left Eddie to get some rest, leaving Eddie and Richie alone once again.

Eddie reached out and took Richie's hand once again, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Thank you for saving me," he said softly. 

Richie squeezed Eddie's hand back. "Literally anytime, man," he said casually. 

A nurse came in to check Eddie's vitals.

She gestured to Richie and Eddie's linked hands. "Your husband hasn't moved from your side since you've been here," she commented as she checked Eddie's saline and morphine drips. "You're a lucky man, Mr. Kaspbrak. He's quite the keeper."

Richie froze. Since Beverly had listed him as Eddie's emergency contact and Eddie had been wearing a wedding ring, the hospital staff had assumed that Richie and Eddie were married -- an assumption Richie hadn't ever bothered to correct.

Eddie had just raised an eyebrow at Richie. "Yeah, he sure is," he replied.

The nurse finished her rounds and left them alone again. 

Eddie turned to Richie. "So, husband, huh?"

Richie blushed. "Um, about that… Well, Beverly filled out the paperwork and put me as your emergency contact so they wouldn't ask too many questions, and I guess they just assumed--"

Eddie shrugged. "Eh. It's no big deal. You & I have always fought like an old married couple, so even though I've been unconscious for almost 2 weeks it shouldn't be surprising that people assume we are one."

Richie ran his free hand through his messy hair. "Well, now that you're awake, I'm assuming you want to call your real-life wife, so I'm gonna go so you can do that--" He stood and went to let go of Eddie's hand but was kept in a firm grip.

He looked down at Eddie's hand then back up at Eddie's face, which showed a combination of determination and exhaustion.

"I didn't tell any of the others yet, but before we left for the Neibolt house that last time I called Myra and told her that I wasn't coming home, that I wanted a divorce," Eddie said wearily.

Richie was silent for a beat, then sat back down. "Well no wonder she didn't come running in here all worried about her 'Eddie-Bear'," he joked.

He didn't miss the flinch that passed over Eddie's face. He quickly changed the subject. "Man, you've had a hell of a past couple of weeks, huh?"

Eddie snorted. "That's an understatement. In the past 2 weeks I've remembered my previously forgotten traumatic childhood, reconnected with 5 of my 6 best friends, left my wife -- who as it turns out is a carbon-copy of my mother -- was stabbed in the face by a homicidal maniac, and  _ then _ was stabbed through the chest by an evil, homophobic alien clown, which my friends subsequently bullied to death. My therapist is going to have a field day during my next appointment." 

Richie laughed. "I'm already planning an entire act around this and I'm sure we'll all wind up in Bill's next book." He then froze.  _ Wait, Eddie said  _ ** _homophobic_ ** _ alien clown. Shit, I didn't come out to him or tell him about my first encounter with Pennywise when we were kids and forget that I did, did I? Well then I guess now's as good a time as any to spill. _

"So um, yeah, well not only did I remember you guys," he began, "but I also remembered this  _ massive _ crush I had when we were teenagers. Massive enough that it never really went away, even after all this time. Massive enough to where I'm pretty sure that it was more than just a crush since I feel the same way now as I did 27 years ago."

Richie's heart started pounding. He glanced over at Eddie, who still hadn't let go of his hand and was watching him curiously. "Oh?" He began gently rubbing his thumb on the back of Richie's hand. "On whom?"

Richie felt like his hand was on fire. He swallowed. "It was on you," he whispered, looking at Eddie's bedsheets as if they were the most fascinating thing on the planet. 

After a beat of silence, Eddie cleared his throat softly. "I-- I had a crush too. When we were kids, that is."

Richie braved a look at him. Eddie was smiling warmly.

"It was on you."

Richie swore he hadn't heard correctly. "What?"

Eddie chuckled briefly. "It's always been you. When we got back here and I saw you at the restaurant everything just clicked back into place for me."

Richie blinked. "You… had a crush… on me?"

Eddie shrugged as much as he could without pulling his stitches. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out when we were teenagers, as obvious as I was about it."

"What the fuck? How were you obvious about it?"

"Well, let's see." Eddie ticked off on his fingers, "For one, me, the germaphobe, was always touching you, one of the main ones that were always rolling around in the dirt. Two, like I said, we constantly argued like an old married couple. Three, I'd purposely pick a fight with you about the time limit on the hammock because I knew you were a stubborn-ass and wouldn't give it up, so then I could squish myself in there and cuddle with you. And finally, you understood me better than anyone else and never made fun of me for my asthma or anything, how could I  _ not  _ fall in love with you?"

"Woah, woah, what the fuckity fuck, you were  _ in love _ with me?" Richie felt like Christmas had come early.

Eddie smirked. "Well yeah, dumbass. Still am."

Richie did the only thing he could think of. He leaned up and kissed Eddie.

He was brought back to the present by Eddie gently rubbing his back. Richie had stayed with Eddie in the hospital until his release, then immediately brought him back to California with him while Eddie finished healing and began his divorce proceedings.

Eddie gave him a kiss on the neck. "See, babe, I'm fine. I'm here. I'll never leave you. I'll never leave you, I swear. I'm gonna be nagging your ass until we're a hundred."

Richie leaned back with a laugh. "Sorry, I'm being stupid."

Eddie shook his head. "Hey, no, you're not. That shit was traumatic for the both of us."

"I just don't know why I keep having that nightmare, why I'm so afraid I'm going to wake up everything will have been a dream… that you'll be gone."

Eddie was silent for a minute, then finally said, "I saw Stan."

Richie was confused. "What?"

"After the battle, or maybe during it-- I don't know. All I know is that one minute I was with you in the cavern and the next I was in this bright white room with Stan. Adult Stan, not Stan as we knew him, but… it was definitely him. He hadn't changed much at all. And it was the weirdest thing, but there was this turtle with him…" Eddie shook his head. "Anyway, Stan told me basically the same thing that was in all of our letters -- that he did what he did because he knew that if one of us  _ could _ be there and  _ wasn't _ then we'd fail. Then he told me that I had a choice - that I could go with him and I could be at peace, or I could go back & get a second chance at life, at happiness… and at love. 'He loves you too'. That's the last thing Stan said to me before I woke up. I think Stan knew what my choice would be."

Richie smirked. "And you chose  _ me? _ Sucker."

Eddie punched him playfully on the arm. "I'll always choose you, Rich. In fact-- wait right here just a second."

Richie grabbed his glasses from his bedside table and watched as Eddie climbed off of the bed and went over to their closet, retrieving something from one of his shoes. He climbed back into bed.

"I knew when we were kids that I wanted you by my side forever. You have saved me, over and over, and in more ways than you could ever realize. I love you, Richie, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So..." He pulled out a small, black, velvet box, which he opened to reveal a ring. "Will you marry me?"

"Holy shit, dude,  _ really? _ " Richie gasped. "Are you sure you want to get married again? To  _ ME _ ?"

Eddie laughed. "No, dumbass, I'm just asking you to officially spend the rest of your life with me for shits & giggles.  _ Yes _ , really. Be my husband?"

"Fuck  _ YES _ ," Richie replied happily, tackling Eddie back onto the bed and showing him just how affirmative his answer was.

Later, Richie sent a photo of him & Eddie cuddled up together in bed with sex-mussed hair and shit-eating grins -- Richie's ring proudly on display -- to the Loser's group text.  _ Which one of you fuckers want to be my best man? _

**Author's Note:**

> I figured it was Eddie's turn to propose. ;)


End file.
